• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

New Ampeg B115E breaks up - asking too much?

Y

YoMomma

Jul 15, 2010
53
0
#1
Just bought an Ampeg B115E 1x15 cab, driving it with a MicroVr. The B115E breakups big time - like something is about to fly apart - if I boost the bass control on the amp and turn it up to "club level" volume - which is pushing the VT head pretty hard.

So, is the cab defective? I was expecting pure clean sound as long as I stayed within the wattage specs. But it sounds like a cheapo ******** pile of crap when driven a little bit.

It's a new cab (but I discarded the shipping box, etc.), what would you advise? I like the size and weight of the B115E, but it's almost embarrassing how ****** this thing sounds when you get it playing volume (and I'm not talking about filling a stadium, just an average club).

Thanks for your thoughts,

-YM
 
#4
YoMomma said:
if I boost the bass control on the amp and turn it up to "club level" volume - which is pushing the VT head pretty hard. I was expecting pure clean sound as long as I stayed within the wattage specs. ...it's almost embarrassing how ****** this thing sounds when you get it playing volume (and I'm not talking about filling a stadium, just an average club).
Click to expand...
While your decision to fall withing the amp/cab wattage ratings, if you follow some of the speaker gurus on TB (Bill Fitzmaurice, Greenboy and others), you'll quickly learn that cab wattage ratings means almost nothing in regards to how it will handle loud, low notes. Only the speaker ratings (Xmax, etc) mean something and if the cab is designed for a specific speaker pretty much is the ballgame.

Marton said:
Boosting the bass control at high volume with a small cabinet = that. Physics are against you.
Click to expand...

+1

Sounds like you're pushing the amp pretty good as well. Having to turn up the bass eq. may also mean that your amp is running out of headroom.

Seems like you need a cab with a more heavy duty speaker(or two or four) and more efficiency.

If you still can return it, find a box (maybe a local music store can help you out?) and send it back. IMO, if you do anything else, you'll be throwing good money after bad.

An idea to consider: maybe you can borrow one or two 2x15's or a couple of 2x10's (vertically stacked) and see how it goes at your next gig.

PS. I advise you to keep original packaging for up to a year. Never throw out packaging for new large, purchases. I store them in my garage. You never know....:bassist: I would also advise you to keep the amp/cab from distorting so you don't blow the speaker and then you can't return it. Maybe you can get some PA support for it at your next gig?
 
#7
What are your knob settings on the Micro VR? What kind of bass? The B115e's a budget cab but it should be able to handle the Micro VR. Most SS amps will run pretty nasty when you run them wide open and try to go past its available wattage, though, and it's possible to pass that point with a Micro VR. Also, if you run with a lot of bass knob crankage, you divert a lot of wattage to low frequencies, and that will cause your amp to run out of clean wattage quicker. And amp distortion can sound just like speaker distortion. So we'd need your bass and knob settings on bass and amp to give you any sort of a clear answer.
 
#8
JimmyM said:
What are your knob settings on the Micro VR? What kind of bass? The B115e's a budget cab but it should be able to handle the Micro VR. Most SS amps will run pretty nasty when you run them wide open and try to go past its available wattage, though, and it's possible to pass that point with a Micro VR. Also, if you run with a lot of bass knob crankage, you divert a lot of wattage to low frequencies, and that will cause your amp to run out of clean wattage quicker. And amp distortion can sound just like speaker distortion. So we'd need your bass and knob settings on bass and amp to give you any sort of a clear answer.
Click to expand...

In other words, asking too much of a mini-micro amp and a single 15"? ;)
 
#9
Well, I have the answer folks!! I decided to remove the grill and look under the hood. Lo and behold, they installed a rear mount speaker in a front load cab! The speaker should be in a rear loaded cab, because the paper/cardboard gasket is on the front-facing side of the mounting flange. I could not believe it!!! How could they make such a mistake?! How many B115E's out there have this incorrect speaker configuration?

I happened to have a FRONT mount 15" speaker (with the gasket on the REAR side of the mounting flange), so I uninstalled the factory - WRONG - speaker type, and installed a CORRECT front mount 15. BINGO! Everything sounded great - as I expected in the first place.

Such an egregious error is unforgivable from a name such as AMPEG. Heads should roll. There ought to be a "recall". Check your B115E, if you have one. DO NOT BUY one if you don't.

-ym
 
#11
DISCLAIMER: I am an endorser, but I know many of the guys at Ampeg, and trust me, they're not in the business of ripping anyone off. I'm assuming you bought it new, so if you did, you should call them and email them pics. If the speaker doesn't have the right gasket for the right way to mount it, they'll send you a new one. This would certainly be a mixup at the factory rather than a vast conspiracy to sell cabs with the wrong speaker gasket. What's in it for them to do that? Saving 3 cents on rubber? Call Ampeg tomorrow.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Again, this is assuming you bought it new. If you bought it used, it could have been a previous owner tampering with it. Don't know...wasn't there, didn't see pics...but if you bought it new, you'll get taken care of if you handle it through Ampeg and not Talkbass.
 
#12
YoMomma said:
Well, I have the answer folks!! I decided to remove the grill and look under the hood. Lo and behold, they installed a rear mount speaker in a front load cab! The speaker should be in a rear loaded cab, because the paper/cardboard gasket is on the front-facing side of the mounting flange. I could not believe it!!! How could they make such a mistake?! How many B115E's out there have this incorrect speaker configuration?

I happened to have a FRONT mount 15" speaker (with the gasket on the REAR side of the mounting flange), so I uninstalled the factory - WRONG - speaker type, and installed a CORRECT front mount 15. BINGO! Everything sounded great - as I expected in the first place.

Such an egregious error is unforgivable from a name such as AMPEG. Heads should roll. There ought to be a "recall". Check your B115E, if you have one. DO NOT BUY one if you don't.

-ym
Click to expand...

Heads should roll? Too good for them. Nothing short of a public stoning should result from such egregiousness. But for justice to be fully served, disembowelment while alive followed by their entrails being eaten by egrets is the only way for the folks at Loud (all of them, of course) to expiate this heinous egregiousiosity
 
#13
One Drop said:
Heads should roll? Too good for them. Nothing short of a public stoning should result from such egregiousness. But for justice to be fully served, disembowelment while alive followed by their entrails being eaten by egrets is the only way for the folks at Loud (all of them, of course) to expiate this heinous egregiousiosity
Click to expand...

Plus a unit of numerical measurement that is neither a fraction, equal to or less than zero, or used to indicate a plurality.
 
#14
YoMomma said:
bump. you need to see the rip-off that ampeg is pulling on b115e buyers!
Click to expand...
The only speakers I've ever seen mounted in bass cabinets ALL had a gasket on the front even though they were rear mounted. The manufacturers include the front gasket so the speaker can be mounted either way. If the baffle is carpeted, usually the cabinet maker leaves out any gasket because the carpet is enough of a gasket, but they can leak if the speaker isn't screwed down properly. Maybe that's all that was wrong with the original speaker.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Iristone
#18
@JimmyM. Yes, I've decided to take this up with Ampeg support. On further inspection of the factory speaker, there is some small and uneven thing around that back of the mounting flange that I suppose might be called a gasket, but it's too small and in too poor condition to ever have a chance or be effective. I'll send them detailed pics, etc. If they **** me, I'm done with ampeg forever. We'll see...

@bassmanPaul: The speaker that I dropped in is a 15" from a 1975 Music Man 115RH Sixty Five cab. I've abused it for decades. BUT it has the expected paper/cardboard gasket on the correct (rear) side. To my surprise and thrill, it "fixed" my issues I was having with the original factory cab/speaker. Now it sounds great! But, I didn't pay money for a speakerless cab, I want Ampeg to make this right.

I'll keep ya posted...
-ym
 
#19
YoMomma said:
How many B115E's out there have this incorrect speaker configuration?
Click to expand...
All of them, along with just about every other bass cab ever made. All musical instrument drivers have a gasket on the front of the flange, to allow rear mounting if desired. Most can be front mounted as well, preferably with a gasket, of course.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back